Year C (27)

In today’s gospel we are presented with three wise men who sought to discern the happenings of great events in the stars. A common misconception presents the wise men as kings. The probable cause of this confusion comes from Ps 72 that we sung today for our psalm, where we …

Baptism of Our Lord – St. Ignatius 10am – Year C – Lk 3: 15-22 It may surprise you to learn that the early Christian community were very embarrassed by the Baptism of the Lord. This was because it upset the neat categories that they were trying to establish: namely that John …

Contrary to the other gospels, John does not pepper his gospel with many stories of Jesus’ miracles. We know Jesus worked many miracles, many of which are not even recorded in any of the gospels. But John decides to recount only seven miracles of Jesus in his gospel. …

In our hyper-individualistic society, we can sometimes fall into the trap of approaching our religious faith in individualistic terms. We each have our own faith and practice this faith in many different ways. Many of us have various devotional practices, which, for a large …

In our hyper-individualistic society, we can sometimes fall into the trap of approaching our religious faith in individualistic terms. We each have our own faith and practice this faith in many different ways. Many of us have various devotional practices, which, for a large …

Perhaps some of you have come across the new series on Jesus’ life called “The Chosen.” It takes the story of the gospel and fills it out, giving character and depth to those who play cameo roles in the gospels like Nicodemus, Mary of Magdala and Matthew the tax collector. …

In 2004 Victor Yushchenko stood for the presidency of the Ukraine. Vehemently opposed by the ruling party Yushchenko’s face was disfigured and he almost lost his life when he was mysteriously poisoned. This was not enough to deter him from standing for the presidency. On the …

Imagine that you have just won the lottery – a cool R100 000. The next day, you are driving to the store, and when you get to the parking lot, it is choca-block, nowhere to park. You roam all over the parking lot until finally a space opens up – now you like reverse parking …

The faults that we most condemn in others are actually the faults that we fear the most in ourselves. When I first heard this axiom, I laughed at it because it sounded so hypocritical. How can a person be so vociferous in condemning a fault in another person when they have …

As a visitor to Joburg I have been amazed by the phenomenon of intersections where the traffic lights are not working. The lights not working are of course not what I find amazing, as a Zimbabwean, I am unfortunately far too used to such a phenomenon in my own country. But …

Imagine that you were a car – now ask yourself what type of fuel you run on? What is the fuel that you put inside yourself, what keeps you going throughout the day. Now I’m not talking about whether you eat nshima, bread or spaghetti. I’m talking about what is the fuel that …

Today’s first reading begins by telling us that Abraham decided to put his faith in the Lord. What does this really mean to have faith in God? Surely it means more than simply believing that God exists and following his commandments. I would suggest to you today dear friends …

In today’s gospel, we are confronted by a certain version of Jewish theodicy. Theodicy is the branch of theology that wrestles with the question of how an all-powerful loving God might allow evil. At the time of Jesus, many Jews, following the lead of the Sadducees, did not …

This is a parable that we all know very well. I would suspect that when we hear this parable most of us are inclined to see ourselves in one of the sons. But I would like to invite you today to focus on the Father, for it was not really the son who was prodigal, but rather …

On Palm Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing two gospels, one that recounts the events when Jesus entered Jerusalem, and then a second that recounts the events that lead to his crucifixion. All too often the homily on this day focuses on the former, to the exclusion of …

In her work of counselling couples who are dealing with the fallout of an adulterous affair in their marriage, Ester Perel, a Canadian psychologist, has come to some interesting insights into the motivations behind adultery. Her work has led her to believe that when a …

It is said that on the evening of June 18, 1815 a man stood in the tower of England’s Winchester Cathedral gazing anxiously out to sea. At last he found what he was looking for – a ship sending a signal by use of lights. He strained to see the message. All of England held …

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to his disciples and giving them the power to forgive sins: “whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Pope Francis loved reminding us that mercy is the most powerful aspect of …

Recently one of the top players in the ATP Men’s Tour, Carlos Alcaraz was interviewed on his hopes and dreams for the future. At the tender age of 19, he achieved the huge feat of becoming the youngest ever number one in the world after winning the US open. Two years later, …

Having just come out of a 30-day retreat, I had a rather jarring experience on Tuesday when I went into a mall for the first time in a month. But what added to the dissonance in my head was to see Christmas decorations all around the mall when we had not even begun Advent. …

Often when we attend ceremonies, those who are invited to make speeches preface their remarks with long formal acknowledgements of dignitaries both present and absent that go something like this: His Excellency, President of the Republic, in absentia, the Honourable Member …

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a Latin word meaning rejoice. In our second reading today, Paul even though he is in prison, is overflowing with joy and enjoins the same joy on the community at Philippi. Paul encourages the people of Philippi to rejoice always. We might think that …

With growing concern in recent years about the representation of minority groups in films, books and other works of fiction, a certain test was developed as a tool to measure the representation of women in a work of fiction. This test, known as the Bechdel test, has three …

Matthew’s gospel opens with a rather long and tedious genealogy of Jesus and we might wonder why we need to listen to such a boring list on a joyful night like tonight. Genealogies serve a number of purposes in the Scriptures. On the one hand, they serve to establish the …

There can be a certain temptation to idealize the Holy Family and think that as a family they never fought or misunderstood each other or failed to get along because of their own human frailty. To be completely clear, human frailties are not the same as sin. There can be …

Many of us, I’m sure have had the experience of being asked by a born-again Christian: “Have you received Jesus into your life as your personal savior?” It has happened to me a few times and I have been tempted to ask them where in the Bible does it tell you that …

In today’s gospel we see Peter going back to doing what he knows best, being a fisher of fish. Peter backslides into his old way of life, the way of life he had before he met Jesus. For a brief moment in his life, while he was a Jesus’ side, he thought that his life might be …